Velo Magazine — April 2014

The international road season is in full swing. The classics and spring stage races are underway and Velo’s international road season preview is on newsstands now.

The April 2014 issue of Velo gets us ready for the season, emphasizing the pressures faced in pro cycling throughout the season, and speculating on the top contenders in the early-season classics, as well as the Tour de France.

Early-season road racing kicked off in the Middle East with the Dubai Tour and European correspondent Andrew Hood explores the growth of racing in the region in “Sunshine, Spirits, and Crosswinds.” Hood questions whether these races, including the Tours of Qatar and Oman, are the real deal, or simply a mirage. The answer, it seems, depends on who you ask.

France is home to the world’s most prominent bike race, but the Tour hasn’t had a French winner in almost 30 years. In “French Flagellation,” contributor Ryan Newell notes that, while it lacks Tour wins, France has tradition, a national series, and a unique brand of courage. France’s plan to develop a “French Team Sky” may aid in development, but there’s no certainty it will bring another elusive Tour victory.

Where will the biggest riders in the world face off in 2014? In “Under Pressure,” Chris Case maps the matchups across the season. Different riders target different races — while some rise, others recover, and each event plays an integral part in each athlete’s individual season.

Training is no longer confined to merely “riding a lot,” but how racers can make gains, however marginal, based on training with power, focus on diet, etc. In “Science Wars,” Andrew Hood discusses the emergence of science in cycling. It’s a battle Sky is winning, but how?

In “High July,” Matthew Beaudin looks ahead to the 2014 Tour de France and what he expects to be five defining moments.

In “Changing of the Guard,” editor-in-chief Neal Rogers explores the rivalry between former world champion Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel, who bagged the most stage wins at the 2013 Tour de France, looking for the answer to the question of who is the fastest man on a bike.

Marianne Vos is undoubtedly among the greatest cyclists of all time. She has it all and she doesn’t just win road races, or cyclocross races — she wins just about every race. In “Vos Against the World,” Matthew Beaudin examines Vos’ rivals across the biggest races in the sport.

The Velo technical team heads back to the VeloLab to pit four WorldTour-caliber road bikes against each other. While laboratory data only tells part of the story, the lab test identified one of the stiffest race bikes ever built. Pick up a copy today to see which frame tested off the charts.

If a new bike isn’t in your plans for 2014, our technical editor Caley Fretz and company also reviewed four new performance sunglasses and selected our 2014 Editor’s Choice. Find out which model made the grade.

And last, but not least, Dan Wuori has a penchant for imaginative season predictions. Flip to Wuori’s “At The Back” column to see what he thinks might happen on the road in 2014.

Find all this and more in Velo’s April 2014 issue, available on newsstands or in the Apple iTunes store.